Weymouth dog kennel where bulldog died reopens

The kennel and doggie daycare where a bulldog died last month reopened Thursday, nine days after town health officials suspended its license for sanitary violations, The Patriot Ledger reported.

Daniel McCormack, Weymouth’s public health director, said that Land of Pawz had corrected all the violations and made significant improvements to the kennel.

Town officials inspected the business Thursday morning and lifted the suspension, said McCormack.

“We’ve had several meetings with the mayor, the animal control officer and the town attorney. We all made the decision that we couldn’t keep him closed,” added McCormack.

The reopening of the kennel comes two weeks after the death of a 6-year-old English bulldog named Cooper, who was being boarded at the kennel.

Cooper’s owner, Guy Reynolds of Hull, has said a veterinarian suspected heat exhaustion as the cause of death. The dog’s death is still under investigation.

Town officials stressed that their suspension of the kennel’s license had nothing to do with the dog’s death, but they also ordered kennel owner Tom Fleming to seal the asphalt outdoor area to keep it cooler and to provide more shade for animals.

The suspension of Fleming’s kennel license happened because officials cited unsanitary conditions, including an odor of urine and dog feces that had not been picked up.

McCormack said that Fleming had addressed these problems by replacing fence panels and by laying linoleum over wood flooring, making it easier to clean.

Fleming also painted the asphalt a lighter color and installed three shade structures.

On the kennel’s facebook page, Fleming wrote today, “From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for all your overwhelming love and support during this extremely difficult time … My thoughts and earnest prayers continue to go out to Cooper and the Reynolds family.”

Reynolds, who has said he is considering filing a lawsuit, did not a return a telephone call from The Ledger seeking reaction to the kennel’s reopening.

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